Classic Potato Salad with Asparagus

I was at a BBQ a few weeks ago and there was a classic creamy potato salad. I never really ate potato salad but I've been thinking about it since so decided to give it a go. Here's a vegan version of the classic potato salad, using asparagus instead of egg and some vegan alternatives for the creamy sauce.

What you need;

potatoes, asparagus, spring onion, pickles (a.k.a. dill cucumbers or gherkins), capers, fresh dill, Praise 97% fat free mayonnaise (vegan!), Tofutti Sour Supreme (Better than Sour Cream), crushed garlic, lemon juice

What you do; 

I'm not using quantities because you can really make as much or as little as you like. It's a matter of how much tang you want = more or less capers, pickles and lemon.

Basically you boil the potatoes til just soft and let them cool (you don't want to overcook them or they'll just fall apart when you mix it up).

While they're cooking cut the spring onions and pickles into small pieces and chop the capers finely. Mix about 1 part Sour Supreme with 2 parts mayo in a bowl with crushed garlic and a bit of lemon juice to taste (don't go crazy on the lemon to start - too much lemon is hard to balance).

Steam the asparagus for about 2 minutes then refresh in cold water.

Once everything's cool, throw it all together and add finely chopped fresh dill. I put it in the fridge for a few hours before serving it so it's cold and refreshing.

Take it to your next BBQ and no-one will know it's vegan! 

Not Osso Bucco

Right, so 'osso bucco' in Italian means 'bone with a hole' (according to Wikipedia) - and there are no bones or bones with holes in this here recipe. However, I based it on a few traditional osso bucco recipes, and the inspiration for putting it together was seeing a celebrity chef serve up a steaming dish of *almost* loveliness (besides the big meat chunks of course). So here is my veg version of Not Osso Bucco.

 

 

What you need;

eggplant

2 small zuchinnis

1 brown onion

4 celery stalks

2 large carrots

5 tomatoes

2 or 3 tbsp of tomato paste (to taste)

400g canned crushed tomatoes

fresh thyme

handful fresh parsley

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup stock (I use veggie)

semi-dried tomatoes

40 grams vegan alternative to butter (Nuttelex works well)

3 cloves garlic

olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon rind

kalamata olives

What you do;

1) Melt the butter in a large saucepan and cook the garlic and onion for a few minutes. Add the carrot and celery and cook until just soft.

2) Add the roughly chopped fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, semi-dried tomatoes, wine, stock and a bit of fresh thyme. Let it boil then reduce to a simmer and leave covered for about an hour (stirring occasionally).

** While that's cooking, prep. the eggplant by slicing it thickly and sprinkling salt onto each side. Leave it in a colander over a plate for about 30 mins. **

3) In a separate pan, cut the prepared eggplant and zucchini into chunks and fry in olive oil until just browned.

4) Add eggplant, zucchini, olives, parsley, lemon rind and juice to main saucepan and cover for another 30 mins or until eggplant and zucchini are tender.

That's about it! - I like to serve it on brown rice with gremolita on top (lemon rind, garlic and parsley). You might like to add a bit of quinoa or cous cous rather that serving it on rice.

ENJOY!

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Just a side note, I found the most amazing olives the other day. They're called Mount Zero and are grown locally in Victoria, Australia near the Grampians. You have to pit them yourself but it's definitely worth it and so easy - and there's the added bonus that you can eat a few while you're doing it (when I say 'a few' I mean 'half the jar' of course).

Well hello there

Right, so, here is my food blog. There are a whole lot of food blogs on the net but I decided to start this one for my friends and I to share vegan/vego recipes and food ideas.

Whenever I cook something yummy I get friends asking for the recipe and I have to write it out - this blog makes things easier and hopefully some other people will stumble across it too. I also want to use it as a place to keep track of products and free recipes that I've found that I want to remember.

I usually try to cook something new each week. Sometimes it's something I've created from scratch, other times it's a mish-mash of other recipes or a vegan twist on a traditional meat dish. I'm not a chef, I just like cooking and seem to be okay at it. I'm not the best photographer in the world either - so we'll see how we go.

Anyway, welcome to Vegestation Degustation. I hope you'll find something you like.

- Oh, and I'm hoping my lovely vegan and vegetarian friends will want to add their creations here too. It's tough being vegan in a meat-loving world. I'm not a vegan purist, as in, sometimes I'm hit and miss with hidden ingredients in products - but I'll endeavor to check everything or make a note of it in the recipe.

Cheers, M